Arming wire assembly

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to an ordnance item arming wire, of the type in which one end is anchored and the other end holds a fuze or the like in unarmed condition, and a housing for the wire, in the form of a generally U-shaped strip of plastic, rubber or the like forced into a groove or otherwise fastened to the ordnance item so that the open edges of the strip are forced together for protecting the wire against the weather and aerodynamic forces yet can be forced apart to permit sliding of an attachment bridle along the wire to an optimum position for attachment to any of variously positioned stations on different launcher racks.

United States Patent lnventors Dennis E. Glendenning Walton Beach, Fla.; Charlie R. Rodgers; Roy W. Martin,

Ridgecrest, Calif. Appl. No. 782,930 Filed Dec. 11,1968 Patented Apr. 13, 1971 Assignee The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy ARMING WIRE ASSEMBLY 3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 89/ 1.5, 102/2 Int. Cl F4ll 5/02 Field of Search 89/ 1 .5 (Au); 102/2 Primary Examiner-Samuel W. Engle Attarneys-Edgar .1. Brower, Roy Miller and Gerald F. Baker ABSTRACT: The invention relates to an ordnance item arming wire, of the type in which one end is anchored and the other end holds a fuze or the like in unarmed condition, and a housing for the wire, in the form of a generally U-shaped strip of plastic, rubber or the like forced into a groove or otherwise fastened to the ordnance item so that the open edges of the strip are forced together for protecting the wire against the weather and aerodynamic forces yet can be forced apart to permit sliding of an attachment bridle along the wire to an optimum position for attachment to any of variously positioned stations on different launcher racks.

Patented Apri 1971 ,5 5,084 I FIG. 5.

FIG. 4.

INVENTORS. DENNIS E. GLENDENNING CHARLIE R. RODGERS ROY W. MARTIN BY ROY MILLER ATTORNEY. GERALD F. BAKER AGENT.

ARMING WIRE ASSEMBLY GOVERN MENT INTEREST The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Most bomb fuzes' utilize a wire called an arming wire to sense aircraft release and to initiate their arming sequence. The arming wire accomplished this by remaining attached to the aircraft and being withdrawn from the fuze during bomb release. On externally carried stores, of aircraft operating at transonic speeds, this arming wire must be protected from airloads tending to whip the wire causing breakage or premature withdrawal. The problem is further complicated by the fact that the arming wire attachment points vary from rack to rack.

In the past, the protection of the wire has been accomplished by utilizing a rigid metal conduit with multiple openings to provide for the various attachment points to the various bomb racks. The multiple outlets made it necessary to ship the arming wire with the weapon so that on shipboard an ordnanceman could install the attachment bridle to the arming wire at the proper outlet for the bomb rack to be used. This installation however, was not carried out on the flight deck where the aircraft was located, but rather below deck where the ordnanceman had to rely on oral information as to the rack the weapon was to be used on.

As can be imagined, with the large number of weapons required for the strike and the various bomb racks they were to be used on, mixups have been a common occurrence. Results of the mixups, in the rush of getting the strikes off, often are not corrected resulting in unattached arming wires or improper installations. This sequence is a major contributor to the number of duds encountered in a typical strike. It is also obvious that if the arming wire attachment were easily adjustable while loading the weapon onto the bomb rack, proper attachment would be accomplished, thus improving reliability.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION By this invention, a versatile, easily adjustable arming wire system is provided which is compatible with all known weapons attachment devices and which maintains the arming wire protected from accidental snagging and from airloads.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. I is a top plan view of a missile incorporating an arming wire system in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a sequential series of views depicting the operation of the system according to FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a crosssectional view of a modified form of the arming wire tube.

DESCRIPTION AND OPERATION FIG. 1 shows a typical weapon l0 fitted with two arming wire assemblies 12 and 12'. The assembly 12' serves to arm a mechanism in the nose 14 of a weapon l0 and assembly 12 is adapted to unlock a device in tail section 16 which deploys fins 18 in a well-known manner.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the arming wire assembly I2 may be recessed in a groove in the skin 19 of the weapon and comprises a tube 20 of deformable material designed to fit into groove 15 and provide a linear housing for an arming wire 22.

Arming wires 22 and 22 are securely fastened to the body 11 of the weapon at 13, 13" respectively so that when the arming wires are extracted from their respective tubes, the opposite ends of the wires are extracted from their respective devices.

A pull cable 24 is provided for each arming wire and generally is configured as shown in FIG. 3 with a loop formed on one end to slide along the wire and a loop on the other end to which is secured a swivel connector 26.

The operation of the system will be better understood in relation to the series of views depicted in FIG. 4 wherein a typical airborn weapons rack is illustrated at 30 with the usual attachment and release means 40 which is conventionally connected to the aircraft electrical system, for example, through control conduit 35 (View A).

Upon a transmission of a proper signal, the weapon 10 is released from attachment means 40 and begins to fall away from the aircraft (View B). In this view it may be seen that because the connecting cables 24 are connected to and stay with the aircraft, separation of the weapon from the aircraft causes the wires 22 to be pulled from their respective housings 20.

In a typical weapon system, extraction of the wire 22 from the nose section would enable a time fuse and similar extraction of wire 22 would perform another vital function here represented by the release of spring biased fins 18.

If it be desired to fit the disclosed system to a weapon not having grooves 15, and it be desired not to so groove the weapon, it is contemplated that a modified tube such as 20' shown in FIG. 5 be provided which could be easily fastened to the weapon in any conventional manner as by cementing.

The disclosed design offers ready adjustment simply by sliding the attachment bridle along the arming wire which is enclosed in a flexible plastic sleeve. It also offers the advantage of the arming wire being factory installed which insures quality control inspections on its installation.

The operation of the mechanism is summarized below:

a. The attachment bridle 24 is adjusted to the proper location of the attachment point by merely sliding forward or aft in the plastic sleeve 20. This attachment bridle is attached to the rack 40 in the normal manner.

b. Upon weapon release, attachment bridle 24 pulls the arming wire from the plastic sleeve 20. Note the large mechanical advantage allowing the attachment to provide only a fraction of the force tending to pull the arming wire from the fuzes.

c. As the weapon falls away the arming wire pulls from the fuze and feeds through the attachment bridle. As the free end of the arming wire feeds through the bridle the release sequence is complete.

We claim:

I. In an arming device wherein a trip mechanism on one object is adapted to be held in a safe or inoperable condition by a removable arming wire or cable; said one object is releasably fastened to a second object; and said arming wire or cable is adapted to be removed from said trip mechanism upon separation of said objects, the improvement comprising:

at least one longitudinally slotted plastic sleeve of finite length attached to said one object;

a bare arming wire or cable of finite length situated in said sleeve and protruding from the ends of said sleeve;

said arming wire being fastened by a first end to said object and having the second end in such cooperative relationship to a trip mechanism as to hold said trip mechanism in an inoperative condition; and

elongated attachment means having one end attached to said arming wire or cable for sliding movement therewith, the other end protruding from said slotted sleeve and having means on the other end for fastening to said second object whereby: when said objects are separated said arming wire or cable will be forcibly extracted from said sleeve and said second end of said wire or cable will be withdrawn from cooperation with said trip mechanism positioned at any point along said sleeve. 2. The device according to claim 1 wherein said sleeve is recessed in said one object.

3. The device according to claim 1 wherein said sleeve is adhesively fastened to an outer surface of said one object. 

1. In an arming device wherein a trip mechanism on one object is adapted to be held in a safe or inoperable condition by a removable arming wire or cable; said one object is releasably fastened to a second object; and said arming wire or cable is adapted to be removed from said trip mechanism upon separation of said objects, the improvement comprising: at least one longitudinally slotted plastic sleeve of finite length attached to said one object; a bare arming wire or cable of finite length situated in said sleeve and protruding from the ends of said sleeve; said arming wiRe being fastened by a first end to said object and having the second end in such cooperative relationship to a trip mechanism as to hold said trip mechanism in an inoperative condition; and elongated attachment means having one end attached to said arming wire or cable for sliding movement therewith, the other end protruding from said slotted sleeve and having means on the other end for fastening to said second object whereby: when said objects are separated said arming wire or cable will be forcibly extracted from said sleeve and said second end of said wire or cable will be withdrawn from cooperation with said trip mechanism the slot in said sleeve being normally sufficiently closed to confine said wire or cable such that a predetermined force is needed to pull said wire or cable from said slot when force is applied by pulling on said attachment and said plastic sleeve being sufficiently flexible that said attachment may be moved on said wire or cable along the slot; so that said attachment may easily be positioned at any point along said sleeve.
 2. The device according to claim 1 wherein said sleeve is recessed in said one object.
 3. The device according to claim 1 wherein said sleeve is adhesively fastened to an outer surface of said one object. 